Song of the Week: Dwight Yoakam, "A Heart Like Mine," 3 Pears

Song of the Week: Dwight Yoakam, "A Heart Like Mine," 3 Pears

In 1965, The Beatles recorded "Act Naturally" for the UK edition of Help!. Here, it was the B-side of a little song called "Yesterday." Even with Ringo singing, their cover of Buck Owens's signature hit instantly legitimized what was "The Bakersfield Sound" — a California-bred country movement featuring twang-y guitars, airtight harmonies, and a dash of rock-'n'-roll bluster. It's the music of mavericks, and any three minutes of the Bakersfield sound instantly reduces today's red-Solo-cup-wielding Nashville stars to hucksters and panderers. Nobody today mines Bakersfield more authentically than Dwight Yoakam, and you have to figure that's what Beck was thinking when he produced "A Heart Like Mine." The megaphone distortion on the vocals and a cleverly faded-out false ending have his fingerprints on them, but otherwise he steps aside and let's Yoakam roll out his best tune in twenty years — full of punchy bass, dizzying surf guitars, and a collection of Yoakam's finest Elvis impressions. Don't let the big hat and tight jeans fool you; this is a great rock-'n'-roll song, crunchy and full of swagger.

Band of Horses, "Slow Cruel Hands," Mirage Rock

Band of Horses, "Slow Cruel Hands," Mirage Rock

Ben Bridwell's voice holds up shouting over loud guitars, but the best Band of Horses songs have always been slow-burners — there's a built-in wistfulness on a tune like "No One's Gonna Love You" that's heartbreaking. This perfectly sung warning against looking too far back is everything that's great about Band of Horses in one easy ballad.